Birdheart

21 x 28 cm
Found black & white photograph, orange thread, found bird picture from a bird book

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Ever since I was a child we had parrots as our family pets. The most wonderful parrot we ever had was Sammy. Initially named Samuel Gertler, but then, later on we found out Samuel was actually Samantha. (That's another story though.)
She was a Yellow - Napped Amazon.



She was the best parrot ever.
We got her when I was 11 years old, and she was 3 months old. After 3 days she already said her first word - "hello". It was out of control from there on out. Yellow Napes are the best talkers along side African Greys. Amazons have the intellect of a 2 year old child - and that is no joke. Not only could she speak incredibly well, but she could also word associate with various situations. If my mom was coming home and she could hear my mom's car - she would say "Hi Mom". If it was my dad's car, then the obvious (of course) "Hi Dad". It was incredible. I taught her to turn her head, look up in the sky and say "What's the birdie doing up there?". That was one phrase of many, many other phrases that she could say. Here is a partial list of her vocabulary:

Hi baby
Whatcha you doing?
How are you?
Here kitty kitty
My friend
My baby
Renee (my sister's name)
Lisa (my mom's name)
April
Como se llama?
I hate you
You stupid idiot

and the best word of all:
birdheart (she made that one up on her own)

The list goes on...and on...and on...

So this work is an homage to Sam.
She was remarkable.

I am welling up just thinking about her even though she passed away about 5 years ago (we had her for 23 years), and she has been sorely missed.